RESIDENTS at a care home in Worcestershire are raising a glass to a new dementia therapy area that has recently been installed - a ‘pop-up pub’.

The Hawthorns Care Home in Evesham has installed the ‘pub’, which recreates a traditional bar setting providing dementia residents with a more familiar environment to talk about their memories.

The pub was created by dementia therapy business RemPods.

Short for reminiscence pods, the company provides rooms designed to remind individuals with dementia of past decades, complete with authentic furniture, interiors and memorabilia.

The pub, which has been named The King Canute after the former owner of a manor house on the same street as the care home, includes a pull-up backdrop covered in authentic adverts, a solid wooden bar complete with working pumps, vintage tables and chairs and old-fashioned table top pub games.

The business received a £100,000 joint investment from Dragon’s Den dragons Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden after its founder, Richard Ernest, appeared on the programme in 2012.

Mary Tasker, manager of the Hawthorns Care Home, said: “The pop-up pub has been a real hit with our residents since it was installed.

“It allows residents to socialise and interact with others within a recognisable and safe environment. This interaction, as well as the bar games, encourages them to communicate and stimulates the mind.

"The pub has also had a positive impact on their physical well-being by encouraging fluid intake.

“People feel they are actually in the pub socialising with friends and are actively participating in the pub games, regardless of their physical ability.

"It has shown what a powerful effect reminiscence can have. We have seen a hugely positive impact so far and would certainly consider installing further pods in the future, such as a shop.”

Matthew Shove, sales manager at Rempods, added: “Our pop-up pods offer care homes a cost-effective and flexible way to transform a space into a calming, therapeutic environment.

“Familiarity is very important to individuals with dementia and our pods seek to create a full sensory experience around them, for example using authentic music, posters and other memorabilia to help take them back to a well-known and comfortable environment."